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Books and media

Use the SearchWorks library catalog to find books and media related to your topic:

Enter search terms

Try different combinations of search terms. Sometimes fewer terms are better than more

Cast a wide net. General terms may be better than specific terms

Limit results using choices in the left side column (by format, location, more specific topic terms, etc.)

Look at individual results and note the call number and which library has the item

You can select several items and message or email the list to yourself (see choices in the upper right corner)

Formats you can choose from:

Try a subject search using the pulldown menu next to the search box:

Try subject term combinations such as these:

Music political aspects

Popular music social aspects

Rock music political aspects

Jazz political aspects

Music 20th century political aspects

Music social aspects

Musical criticism (book containing critical essays as we as "how to write criticism)

Music and the internet (about digital music and commerce)

Sound recording industry

Music trade (about the music business as a whole)

Political activism

Reference works and databases

These resources are better than Wikipedia (trust me!). Why? Because they are written by experts in the field, and often include reliable lists of important additional resources in the bibliographies and footnotes. Wikipedia may be good for the most current information but authors are anonymous, entries may be incomplete, and bibliographies are scarce.

Some titles below are online and in print; some are in print only. Be sure to note location (online, Music Library, or Green Library)

Databases

"A single search of international charting albums and singles under exclusive academic licence from Billboard, the Official Charts Company. Sophisticated tools allow you to interpret, graph, analyse, compare and contrast musical trends and interactions at the touch of a button. Listen to audio samples for each track and album quickly and easily."

"An archival research resource containing the essential primary sources for studying the history of the film and entertainment industries, from the era of vaudeville and silent movies through to 2000. The core US and UK trade magazines covering film, music, broadcasting and theater are all included, together with film fan magazines and music press titles."

A multidisciplinary database which provides full-text for over 4,650 scholarly publications, more than 3,600 of them peer-reviewed. Includes topics in the social sciences, humanities, general science, education and most areas of academic study.

Subject-author guide to music periodical literature...the editor/librarians have surveyed data from more than 850 music periodicals from over 40 countries. Indexes international music periodicals which cover every aspect of the classical and popular world of music. A broad range of subjects are indexed, covering musicological or organological topics, plus book reviews, record reviews, first performances, and obituaries.

Provides page images of back issues of the core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and basic sciences from the earliest issues to within a few years of current publication. Users may browse by journal title or discipline, or may search the full-text or citations/abstracts. New issues of existing titles and new titles are added approximately on a weekly basis.

While not a source of scholarly articles per se, this is a great place to read concert reviews; opinion/editorial writings on music, politics, and social issues; and more.